Smoking pipe cleaner



June 14,1949. 7 'A. 1.. SOHM 2,473,180

SMOKING PIPE CLEANER Filed Aug. 26, 1947 ll INVENTOR. flflg o J06!!- Patented June 14, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE My invention relates to improvements in pipe bowl cleaners or reamers and has for its principal object, to provide a device which is simple in structure, inexpensive of manufacture, and which may be conveniently used for the rapid and effective cleaning of the incrustations or deposits which accumulate on the inner face of the pipe bowl.

Further objects of my invention are, to provide a pipe bowl cleaner of the character referred to, which is readily adjustable in order that it may be used for cleaning the interior of pipe bowls of diiferent sizes, and further, to provide the cleaner with a pair of fingerlike blades having sharp scraping and cutting edges disposed so that they may be simultaneously sharpened with a file or grinding wheel, or upon a fiat faced hone.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the pipe cleaner.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line I'I of Fig. 1.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention, In designates a short tubular member within which are positioned the upper portions II of bowl scraping or reaming fingers I2, each of which is pressed or stamped from suitable metal and is substantially arcuate of channel shape in cross section.

The upper portions of members I I are disposed within tubular member I0 and passing diametrically through the latter and through the upper positions of said body members is a pin I3, which carries between members II an expansion coil spring I4.

The ends of pin I3 project short distances outwardly from member I0, thus forming a cross handle for the convenient rotation of the cleaner during bowl cleaning operations.

6 Claims. (Cl. 131246) Seated in the wall of member It below and in vertical alignment with pin it, are the heads of short pins or studs I 5, which project through apertures iii in members I I, thus providing bearings between the lower portion of member Ill and the scraping fingers, as same are adjusted for use in different sized pipe bowls.

As seen in Figs. 3 and 5, both ends of the apertures It in members II are slightly reamed or countersunk in order to provide a slightly loose bearing between member Ill and members I I, and, therefore, prevent binding between the parts as said members II rock on their bearings on said member II).

Loosely seated in short vertically disposed slots Il, formed in members II below tubular member it and in vertical alignment with pin I3 and studs I5, are the wedge shaped ends Id of studs I9, having right and left hand threads respectively and these studs are seated in the correspondingly threaded ends of an axial bore I9, formed in a disc 20, having a milled edge.

Opposite portions of the periphery of this disc project outwardly slight distances beyond the vertical edges of members II just below member Ill.

The edges of fingers I2 on one side are gradually curved toward their lower ends and the terminal portions 2 I at said lower ends are shaped so as to generally conform to the shape Of the lower portion of the chamber in the pipe bowl.

These curved edges of fingers I2 and portions ZI are formed with outwardly presented sharp edges 22 and fiat faces 23, which latter occupy the same plane in order that a hone, file, or other abrasive tool may be conveniently used in sharpening said edges.

It is essential that the outer ends I8 of studs I9, rock slightly in the apertures H in order to accommodate the slight change in angularity of members I I and fingers I2, as same move toward or away from each other when disc 20 is rotated.

Expansion spring I l exerts pressure on the upper portions of members I I, thus tending to swing those portions of said members below member I9 and studs I5 toward each other,

To adjust the working width of the lower ends of fingers I2 for use in cleaning the recesses or pockets in different sized pipe bowls, disc 20 is rotated so as to swing members II upon their fulcrums l5 and thereby'move the lower portions of fingers I2 toward or away from each other.

As disc 20 is rotated to move studs I9 apart, the lower ends of fingers 52 will be spread apart and the upper portions of members II will move toward each other to compress spring 14 and these movements will be reversed when dis 20' is rotated to draw studs I9 toward each other, the expansive forces of spring M will act to move the upper ends of fingers I I apart.

To clean the recess in a pipe bowl, the portions l2 are inserted in said recess, and by using pin 13 as a handle, the tool is rotated first in one direction and then in the other so that sharp edges 22 cut, scrape and thereby loosen the incrustations on the inner face of the wall of the bowl and by bearing down on the tool, the sharp edges of the lower end portions 21 of the fingers cut and loosen the crust or accumulation generally referred to as the heel in the bottom of the bowl.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a pipe bowl cleaner which is simple in structure, readily adjustable for use in bowl recesses of difierent sizes, capable of being easily and quickly sharpened and very effective in performing the functions for which it is intended.

Minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved pipe cleaner may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a pipe cleaner, a tubular body member,

a pair of oppositely disposed channel members having their upper end portions fulcrumed within said body member, a pin passing through said body member and the upper portions of said channel members, an'expansion spring on said pin between said channel members, means connected to and disposed between said channel members for moving same upon their fulcrums, and tapered fingers depending from said channel members.

2. The pipe cleaner as set forth in claim 1, and which said fingers are provided with sharp vertical outer edges.

3. The pipe cleaner as set forth in claim 1 and which said fingers are each provided with a sharp vertical outer edge and with a flat face adjacent said vertical edge.

4. The pipe cleaner as set forth in claim 1 and which said channel member moving means comprises threaded studs having their outer ends loosely seated in said channel members and a disc nut seated on said threaded studs.

5. In a pipe cleaner, a tubular body member, a pair of opposed members having their upper portions fulcrumed in said body members, sharp edged fingers depending from said opposed members, threaded studs having their outer ends seated in said opposed members, and a disc nut screw on said threaded studs.

6. A pipe cleaner as set forth in claim 5, with an expansion spring disposed between the upper ends of said opposed'members.

ALFRED L. SOHM.

REFERENCES "CITED The following references are of record in the of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,227,188 Hug Dec. 31, 1940 2,427,856 Halverson Sept. 23, 1947 

